The electronics industry has a need for miniaturized dual-in-line-pole switches which may be utilized with printed circuit boards for the opening and closing of circuits thereon. A number of switches are available on the market, but many are of a size not adapted for automatic machine insertion on a printed circuit board. The further miniaturization of switches to a size susceptible to automatic machine insertion creates a number of problems which must be overcome. It is preferrable that the switch assembly require as few steps as possible and provide a structually strong and reliable construction. In this respect, it is important that the switch be water tight since switches are usually secured to PC boards by the use of wave-soldering techniques which permit a flux residue infiltration in the switch if the parts are not tight fitting. As few manufacturing steps as possible are desireable so that the possibility of damage to the piece parts is minimized and the quality of the product improved.
The Kotaka U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,504, issued May 30, 1979 illustrates a miniature switch package which requires a number of manufacturing steps and includes the problems inherent with a multiple piece part assembly. The switch of the Kotaka patent requires that the terminal be fully formed during the metal strip blanking operation, and then the terminals are inserted into a multichanneled base member and the terminal legs bent downwardly before a housing is secured thereover. It would be preferrable that the terminals be formed when they are tightly secured in order to provide a very finite positioning of each terminal in relation to the oppositely disposed terminal. Zdanys et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,760 issued Mar. 16, 1976, and assigned to the same assignee as herein, illustrates a switch package which is not small enough to be machine insertable, and which utilizes single cantilevered terminal arms that are insert molded in separate halves of the base. It would be advantageous if the switch assembly can be utilized both for slide switch assemblies and rocker switch assemblies, which neither of the aforementioned patents describe.
The miniature switch assembly of the present invention solves the above-described problems by providing a miniature switch assembly wherein the basic parts can be utilized for either a slide switch assembly or a rocker switch assembly. The difference between the two assemblies is that a different actuator and cover is utilized for the rocker switch assembly. The miniature switch assembly is small enough to be inserted by automatic machinery on a PC board, has a water tight housing to prevent the entry of flux residue during wave solder operations, enables the forming of terminals to establish finite positioning of the two oppositely disposed terminals, utilizes a double cantilevered contactor to minimize contactor fatigue, and provides an actuator-contactor assembly suitable for automatic assembly and bulk handling.